Here is an excerpt from one letter sent by Joephit Ngonyo, Director of Africa Network for Animal Welfare: 

"Thank you for the DVD of The Last Elephants in Thailand and for every precious minute you put into it. No one who watches it remains the same. It is very sad and indeed diabolic that elephants should suffer such cruelty for money. The story of Motala and Soraida’s commitment are truly inspiring.

In retrospect, I am so glad that we battled and won Kenya Government plan to send 375 free ranging wildlife to Chiang Mai Zoo in Thailand in the year 2007. I can now only imagine the cruelty some of the animals could have been subjected to. Thank you Donald once again for speaking for the Thai elephant in the moving and far reaching work you have done ...

Thank you once again for the DVD, which we will use for our educational purpose."

And thank you, Josphit, for all the work you have done. It's great to know the film is being shared and utilized across the globe!

Before the show, we called Don (who's in CA) to say "hello!"

The evening marked the first time LEiT was shown to an audience of any significant size. So it was really exciting (& terrifying) to sit in the back of the theater and gauge the crowd's response. Are they entranced, or are they asleep? Where will they laugh? What doesn't make sense? Who is that chomping on their popcorn so loudly? (jk)

During the Q&A

After the film ended, I could finally stop wondering and just start asking. We had a great Q&A session, and viewers had a variety of thoughtful questions and comments that assured me they had indeed gained some insight from the film, appreciated the characters, and were surprised by its content. I also was able to talk a little about the experience of making the film in Thailand and constructing the story, which can shed a lot of light onto the "do's/dont's" of indie doc making. How cool.

At the reception that followed, attendees munched on local fare from Diesel Cafe and Sabur, and a mix of conversations could be overheard: discussions about the struggles of running animal sanctuaries, animals used in tourism and entertainment, what responsibilities individuals and governments do and should have, etc. For a short but poignant moment, I was able to pause and appreciate what was happening.

But that ended quickly, and I dove right back in to the night. Can't wait for the next one!

Thank you again to everyone who attended. (More pictures from the evening can be seen here.)

(click to read)

Following One’s Dream Documentary – June 19, 2009

Thank you VideoMaker! So glad to hear you enjoyed the film.

“You’ll never believe it. Pick up this month’s issue of Oprah’s magazine, and turn to page 149. There is a picture of an elephant painting a giant ‘O’.”

When I got my hands on a copy, I of course already knew what to expect, but still found it troubling to see. There it was. Just as Don had described.

The June 2009 edition of O Magazine is dubbed “The Animal Issue”. Included are many sweet, poignant articles that draw parallels between humans and other animals. On many levels the “Look, They’re Just Like Us!” approach can work. If you’re not careful though, it can backfire.

Surely, whoever was directly or indirectly responsible for this image – the photo editor, the creative director, Oprah herself, etc. – had good intentions. On its surface, a photo of an elephant painting triggers a range of emotions, from fascination to joy to awe. And it seems harmless, right?

Except, when you fail to think critically about what you’re being shown, or not being shown, you can miss the big picture entirely. And, Don and I should know.

Two years ago, when we were shooting the first half of LEiT in Thailand, we had no idea what it meant for an elephant to paint. In fact, like most well-intentioned visitors with a place in our hearts for animals, we thought it was very impressive. We then realized how we and other tourists were being manipulated, and worse, how these elephants were trained to paint. Then, we only felt angry and duped.

Manipulation 1: Elephants do not paint figurative images on their own. They are being controlled by a human.

Since there is no information about the actual image in O Magazine (Who is this elephant? Where does it live?) viewers are left to assume a lot. Understandably, many assume the elephant, on its own, painted the picture.

Not true. Like most still images or video footage of elephants painting, the photo is cropped very strategically. The edges of the frame cut out the elephant’s handler, who by holding on to the ear, tusk, or small tush of the animal, is actually controlling the movements of the brush. When painting in front of an audience, the elephant is positioned to hide the trainer from the crowd.

Take, for instance, this video showcasing an elephant painting an elephant.

The frame never reveals the human trainer who is actually standing on the opposite side of the animal, controlling the movements. And many of the 10,000 YouTube viewers to date are under the impression that the elephant was painting independently. It’s just not true.

The idea that elephants are “intelligent” and “creative” because they paint is bogus. Elephants are intelligent, but not in the warped, anthropomorphic way this trick ascribes.

Abstract paintings are a combination of markings that the elephant did likely make on their own. However, they still did not just pick up a brush and begin painting. They were trained to hold the brush and perform the task. So, what happened before the elephant was submissive enough to follow these directions?

Manipulation 2: Training

What goes on before an elephant is willing to abandon its instincts and freedoms as a wild animal, and submit to a human being, remains behind the scenes for a reason.

In LEiT, there is footage of the traditional methods used to train elephants in Thailand. Our hope is that once people are exposed to what is actually happening to domesticated elephants, tricks like “painting” or standing on their hind legs will be significantly less mesmerizing. Once you know what it took to get them to behave this way, it’s just not appealing anymore.

Manipulation 3: Is this even a real fake?

Having seen many figurative paintings done by elephants (via the control of the handler, of course) I am very suspicious that this is actually one. The stroke movements seem too precise, and the shape too symmetrical. Admittedly, I have no way of knowing this for sure. There is no information about the picture provided. But I would not be surprised if it was entirely staged. Thus, further manipulating the viewer.

This is no reason to backlash against O Magazine or Oprah Winfrey herself. And that is not what we’re doing. If anything, this is proof that there is work to be done, even here in America. This image provides an opportunity for us to give direct feedback and share what we now know.

So, on that note: Thanks, O

Yep. That’s me (Michelle) getting ready to ship Don copies of the final film! He is planning to take a trip to LA this weekend and make a few (hundred?) duplications.

As far as we’re concerned: The more people who see LEiT, the better!

And on that note, we are now focusing on building the film’s complimentary website at www.thelastelephants.com . Participatory, activist media is a strong tool to raise awareness about problems that might otherwise not recieve a great deal of exposure. So in addition to the film, the LEiT website will be a resource for viewers to share their thoughts before and after the film, and learn feasible ways to become involved in the fight to save Thai elephants.

More on that soon. In the meantime, it’s a good day!

When Mosha walks I have noticed something is wrong on Mosha’s right hind leg. She has no pain, no swelling but it is as if her weight makes it difficult for her knee to hold. I shall try to send the VDO clip later.

www.elephant-soraida.com

(FAE) Friends of the Asian Elephant

The X-ray is scheduled this afternoon.

I am preparing myself, the vets and the staff for the worst( if Mosha’s legs could no longer bear her weight), she would not be able to stand. For the past few days Mosha has some difficulties standing up. Poor Baby! How she loves to walk, to run, to climb the fenced area to show the strength she has but she does not know what is happening. She sees other elephants come and go but Granny is always there, Palahdee is there , Mother is always there for her, comforting her.

She loves to see people visiting her, talking to her. She is a happy baby, loved by all.

We shall do our best, please join us to pray for Mosha that she will grow and survive. She fought for her life when she was seven months old. She is now almost four and may we pray she will enjoy more years of happy life with us, Friends of the Asian Elephant.

Please forward to people you know as many as you can.

FAE needs support so we could help, not only Mosha but other unfortunate elephants too.

Thank you very much.

Soraida Salwala, Founder

http://animom.tripod.com/faepage3.html

1) It’s a Saturday night, and I (Michelle) am at home editing! Ahhh, it’s wonderful life. We are trying to get a final cut done by this Monday so Don can review it and take it to Los Angeles to run off copies. I will spend some time out of the house to celebrate Easter tomorrow – otherwise, it’s full steam ahead.

2) The next goal will be to get some festival entries in, and maybe cut another trailer. Ideally, you will find that posted here soon.

(Note: This is actually the editing set-up circa February, while I was in California. But you get the idea.)

We always scheduled in workshopping the film – showing it to others to get feedback and advice – but in wrapping up this first cut, we definitely got ahead of ourselves and predicted an earlier finish. I would guess (hope?) this is common among people. It’s easy to get swept up in the excitement of “finishing” and you should be allowed to celebrate those small victories.

However, after all of the invaluable advice and wisdom that we received from people we’ve shared the film with, it’s clear that if we want LEiT to reach a broader audience, we have some serious work to do. Never underestimate the power of workshopping your film and getting input from peers. It’s humbling. It’s enlightening. It is what turns okay into good, and makes good even better.

It was interesting that people wanted to see more of what we, in the early stages of development, were actually going for, but somehow lost sight of. It’s a struggle to maintain a balance of providing important information verbally and then just letting images speak for themselves. So it is now reinvigorating to consider these insights and re-read our original notes and goals for the film – a bit like venturing out to find the answer, to realize that in some ways it was there all along.

What’s great is that we do have time and the footage to see this through. The nature of film making, at least with indies that are self-financed, is that deadlines are mostly self-imposed. Trust that we are not taking our sweet, precious time. But we are taking the time that that film deserves.

To those of you reading who have watched LEiT and provided feedback, thank you! You have been a huge encouragement.

In order to qualify for film festivals in the “Short Documentary” category, LEiT needs to be under 40 minutes, or at about where that red star lies on the Final Cut Pro screen capture (above). As you can see, we go past this very important point.

Currently, LEiT is 44 minutes. Four minutes might not seem like a lot to sacrifice, but for a short film, it’s quite a large chunk. In those minutes, we are covering a lot of information, while trying to maintain thoughtful and consistent pacing. Trimming clips or cutting scenes, in order to save time, just feels so ... wrong!

Still, we are trying to regard this “festival requirement” not as a burden, but as a challenge to make our film better. Without compromising the style or the information, we will have to find four minutes to part with.

One of the biggest mistakes made in trying to meet this challenge, though, is cutting too much of the “human” out – those poignant pauses after Soraida explains the threats on her life, the shots of Dr. Preecha playing with the cuff of his pants, Lek Chailert’s knowing stare when she is asked “How do elephants learn to paint?” – they eat up seconds, but those are the moments that make documentaries authentic, and cannot be scrapped for time economy’s sake.

Wish us luck!